Albany, N.Y. — Some of New York’s closest partners on coronavirus policy qualified to land on the state’s quarantine list this week.
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut all meet the case threshold to be included on New York’s quarantine list, but weren’t formally added. Instead, New York is discouraging all nonessential travel to and from those three states.
Maryland and Arizona were added to New York’s quarantine list officially.
Travelers from any location on the list, which now includes 40 states and territories, must self-quarantine for 14 days after arriving in New York.
The full list now includes: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming.
There’s no practical way to enforce quarantines on anyone from Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Connecticut, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today during a conference call with reporters.
The states are too closely intertwined with New York. Streams of workers and goods move back and forth daily across those borders.
“It would be highly problematic,” Cuomo said of any effort to enforce the quarantine on those states. “And it would be really devastating for the economy.”
New York’s enforcement efforts on the quarantines have been focused mainly on air travelers. The state has sent “enforcement teams” to airports across the state to boost compliance with the policy.
Plus, all travelers from locations on the list are required to submit a form to the state with contact details, where they came from and where they’re going.
Cuomo said New York will work with New Jersey and Connecticut to help them bring their infection spikes under control. He also said he planned to talk to the governors there about making clear that nonessential travel should be avoided.
Connecticut is planning to modify the rules governing its quarantine list so fewer states qualify, according to the Hartford Courant. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said he’s talking about the rule change with officials in New York and New Jersey too.
Cuomo said he’d talk more about the quarantine policy tomorrow.
New York, Connecticut and New Jersey first began requiring quarantines in June for travelers arriving from areas where the virus is still spreading rapidly. The states have been updating their lists regularly since then.
The quarantine policy applies to areas with a positive coronavirus testing rate higher than 10 people per 100,000 residents or with an overall positive rate of 10% or higher, both based on seven-day rolling averages.
It includes exemptions for essential workers and doesn’t apply if a traveler is in a location on the list for less than 24 hours. New Yorkers returning home from locations on the list must quarantine as well.
Cuomo has said repeatedly he is concerned that travelers from areas with more widespread cases of Covid-19 could end up spreading the illness anew in New York.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut qualified for New York’s coronavirus quarantine list, but weren’t officially added. The story was incorrect previously because an official gave incorrect information during Cuomo’s conference call.
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